“A gentle landscape dress of soft gauze that veils the body’s curves.”
~ Nicole Rubio
ARTIST INSIGHT
Bustles & Venetian Carnival and Fops
– Gallery Link
Bustles
Bustle 11
Unbound
Victorian beachscape. There are boundaries that the dress back on the sand has broken out of that cascade joyfully to the sea.
Bustle 48
Shiny Exterior
On first glance, one sees confident showy frills but the open jacket shows an inner bodice telling a different story. The bodice reveals the real scars and life-weariness of the wearer.
Bustle 49
Vesuvius
Inspired by a trip to Southern Italy. The stability of time and the Mediterranean sea contrast with Vesuvius, a potential patch of upheaval. Everything seems to be under control but there are signs of coming upset in the bodice and lower right lap that might not be contained.
Bustle 51
Veils and Soft Uprisings
A gentle landscape dress of soft gauze that veils the body’s curves. The corsage belt is a hint at the wearer’s desire to seduce but placed subtly higher than its anatomical counterpart.
Bustle 55
Seductive Spirit
A closeup of the eternal flirter. By now her fan has rotted to the bone but it is still beautiful.
Bustle 56
Flirting with the Wind
It will always be part of the feminine nature to flirt, even after passing into her next incarnation. Flirting is a life force, a source of energy, like electricity. She’s not wearing tight clothing but her fan beckons.
Bustle 59
Intimacy in Darkness
Part of the feminine gift is to comfort pain and give company in darkness. She is offering refuge and understanding with her draped body.
Bustle 62
Facing the Great Beyond with the Scars of Life
This is her dress to meet her maker. The pattern in the fabric is made of the scabs and scars her inner self-has accumulated through her lifetime.
Bustle 63
Time Bites
What was once a beautiful figure has been worked on by the invisible passage of time, creating holes and disproportionate areas. Even so, she is still beautiful.
Bustle 64
Bride with Serpent Tail
Young and beautiful isn’t the whole story. There is always part of the feminine nature that is subversive and serpent-like, though it may not be visible at first.
Bustle 66
You Gotta Get Up and Try, Try, Try
Inspired by the pop song by Pink. The wearer of this dress has been taken down to the ground and shows dirt scuffles but is still willing to put forth her best offering of roses. A curated, sober, vulnerable offering.
Venetian Carnival and Fops
Venetian Carnival 68
Chain of Command
There is always an unspoken pecking order in social life. The servant on the left is in a ray of light, suggesting she is more enlightened than the woman and man she is serving.Â
Venetian Carnival 69
One Will Be Wounded
In a triangle, there will be a winner and a loser. The loser will want to hurt the winner. And maybe the person they won too.
Venetian Carnival 70
Princess Groundrock with Dirt and Pebbles
This is a closeup of a princess skirt and torso. She is not a prissy princess. Her skirt is made of gravel and rough stuff and opens to reveal mauve silk with holes and pebbles.
Venetian Carnival 71
Exiting the Masquerade of the Fops
I will always love ridiculous flamboyance and cheer people on who go over the top out of exuberance. However, having reached a certain age myself, I don’t feel the need to express myself in that way anymore.
Venetian Carnival 72
End of the Line
An old woman looks back at three young nymphettes, remembering when she was young like them, and knowing they will eventually be sitting where she is now.
Venetian Carnival 73
BFF’s Crossing the Line
Even between best friends, there is a ton of underground shade, barbs, and envy. Sooner or later it finds a way out to the surface.
Venetian Carnival 74
Struck in the Chest with a Dark Thought
In a seemingly benign relationship, one friend finds a way to make her friend feel bad by something she says in passing symbolized by the dark flower she is offering to a vulnerable spot.
Venetian Carnival 76
Ship of Discarded Selves
A refuse heap of discarded Venetian carnival masks is a metaphor for all the selves we have worn in the past and discarded for a new angle.
Venetian Carnival 77
Hung Out to Dry
This is a bodice belonging to a Fop. Her latest flirtation has failed and she is left alone with her limp finery.
Venetian Carnival 78
Blind Lady Fop with Fan
Even though she can no longer see, she is still running her game of grabbing the closest fop in her environment. She will
never change.
Venetian Carnival 79
Spread Wide the Web of Seduction
A three-headed creature from the green lagoon at Venetian Carnival. A throwback to the Sirens.
Venetian Carnival 80
The Seers
Masked Venetian ladies at Carnival holding magic globes of the future and up to no good.
Venetian Carnival 81
Pursuit and Retreat
Two Venetian Carnival ladies, one inching forward toward the other, who is receding from the pursuer’s attention.
Venetian Carnival 82
Always Carry a Spare/Backup Mask
This Venetian Carnival dandy is prepared with an alternate identity in case the one he has on doesn’t work.
Venetian Carnival 83
Ladies of the Night
Venetian Carnival has its dark side; these ladies are in their element in the mysterious darkness.